Something I can't give
by Flannigan
Summary: It's a dark night in the Valley of Peace, and a snow leapoard chased by guards is nearing the Jade Palace on a mission. Tonight, many lives will be changed.


It was night, a perfect time for dark souls to creep out and wander the city. The streets made of stone and the streets made of dirt were flooded with shadows. The candle's inside the lanterns hanging in the streets had been blown out by the wind, and no one bothered to light them again.

If one were to stand in the middle of one street, one paved with dirt and filled with darkness, and hold their breath; they'd hear the wind and voices it brought with it. The voices of two feet running like a madman, and the angry whisper of the followers feet behind the first. You could make out the clanking of the armor and weapons as they touched each other.

As time went by, you'd notice the sound grew louder and nearer, just outside the field of vision in the dark. A silhouette would show itself, a form of a feline dashing through the city. A skinny but muscular silhouette. The man was exhausted, breathed harshly and almost tripped over his own feet, but his eyes glowed golden with determination. As he passed you'd see the spotted pelt and the ragged clothes. The snow leopard pressed the bundle in his arms closer to his chest and ran out the field of vision.

The guards would run after him, filled with energy and their sense of duty. They were huge, angry rhinos. Slow as they would be in their armor and with their physique, a healthy snow leopard would outrun them in a minute. The fact they were closing in on him would illustrate just how long the snow leopard had been running.

The guards would gasp words and sentences between their breaths to each other, mostly sharing information about the criminal Bai Lei. The way he fought, his appearance, the best way to take him down. Why he'd suddenly been sighted after two years of hiding, and was avoiding a fight, was nothing they never cared to ask.

The spotted feline saw the beginning of the stairs, the stairs that led to his destination, and he hurried his steps. It is nothing he saw as honorable to fall before the finish line.

"_Shifu, my friend, do you still remember me? Or have you forgotten the little village in the mountains next to the rice fields?"_ He thought back on his childhood friend, the small red panda who suddenly had left him, years ago. Finding him was easy, Shifu was famous in all of China and the borders of the surrounding countries.

"_I pray to my ancestors my feet will be swift!" _

With his eyes who could see through the darkness; he saw the entrance to the palace. The now grey doors were closed tight, but that wasn't his biggest concern. He had barely put half of the stairs behind him, and the rhinos were advancing on the stairs now. He wondered how he were going to make it, he turned his head and saw to his joy the rhinos had to slow down. Their short legs were strained, and then it wasn't easy walking a stair with full armor and swords and spears. Or even run.

Lei faced the palace again, with a grimace of determination on his face. He could make it.

His legs moved back and forth without him telling them to, a haze in which he could do nothing but to keep moving. It felt like an eternity.

Suddenly he saw the stone dragons at the end of the stairs, at the doors, and he saw them grow nearer and disappear behind him. He quickly stopped his steps, and the muscles in his legs could finally rest. He fell down to his knees on the stone floor and breathed deep, wiped the sweat from his brow.

He looked disbelievingly at the red doors. He was there, he had reached his destination. The two lanterns on both sides were lit and cast light around the doors and onto him. He saw all the dents of the old door, the handles, the hinges. He stroked the bundle in his arms and whispered "We're here, Ming Ming... You'll be safe here..."

He removed a piece of cloth and looked at the small, innocent sleeping face of his son. "I'll miss you. I love you..." He kissed his son on the forehead.

"_The spirits know I don't want to leave you, my dear Ming Ming. But you need a real father." _His son were breathing softly.

"_A father who'll take care of you, nourish and challenge you. And love you. Shifu will teach you things, he will adopt you I'm sure. He's a softy..."_

Lei carefully put down his son on the ground before him. _"And you'll be given the luxuries of a bed and warm food, clean clothes and friends. Something I can't give you."_

Lei suddenly smiled big, filled with hope. _"Grow up, Ming Ming! Shifu rose from peasant to renowned Kung Fu trainer. Imagine what he can do with the son of a criminal." _He put his hands together to pray. _"Honored ancestors, watch over Ming Ming, let Shifu give him a worthy name and make him into a legend. Don't let my dishonorable way of life hinder him in his. Please."_

He climbed up to his feet, and looked down on his boy with a sad face. "I know you'll become something great. Please don't be angry with me, _this _is something I _can _give you."

At that moment the little snow leopard woke up. He found his father with his golden eyes. He babbled happily and reached out his arms to him, saying 'Pick me up!'.

Lei smiled sorrowfully, and turned his back to the baby. He walked the best he could to the stairs again, and ignored the sting in his eyes; and the confused cries behind him. The guards were nearing the final step. They could not be allowed to find his son!

He glared and jumped up in the air.  
The winds chilled him, and focused him. He aimed at the rhino in the lead, swung out his leg, turned around in the air and hit him with his heel in his head. The rhino fell down on his back, and Lei landed on him, finishing him off with a quick but heavy fist to the throat. Right about then the others noticed he was there.

The closest one reacted first, swinging his blade at him. Lei backed a step and the sword struck the fallen rhino. He shot forward, putting his foot on the blade to stop him from bringing it up, and punched him in the face.

The rhino was thrown back at the force, and got his sword pulled out from his clasped fist. Lei wasted not a moment in pulling out the tip from the fallen rhino, wielding it and turning it to his enemies.

He glared at them, blocking every attack they came at him with. He turned around just in time to redirect a sharp edge that was coming at his back, or dodged just in time when a blunt and hard object were flying to bludgeot him. One could not see that he was ready to just fall down on the spot and drift into unconsiousness. He loved his son too much.

The sound of steel running into steel was interrupted by what sounded like a grunt, a military term Lei didn't understand. The effect was immediate, everyone backed a step, and formed a circle around him, or as good a circle when you're standing in a stair. They all stood in attack position, waiting.

Waiting for a signal.

Lei knew this move, he knew he'd die if it was succeeded. Once they all attack him at the same time, there was no way to dodge.  
So he gripped the hilt of the sword harder, and attacked them.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry, I didn't know how long I've been not posting my oneshots I've written during the time I've written Pain Manipulation (Not KFP, it's Naruto)

Sadly this was the only KFP oneshot that was complete, but there will be more!

So tell me: You like, you no like? Why? Advice and critique, yes please!


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